Prickly Pear Jelly
Prickly Pear Jelly
2 gallon very ripe prickly pear cactus tunas (creates about 2.5 cups of juice)
1/2 cup lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 pouch (3 oz) Ball RealFruit liquid pectin
Cheesecloth
6 half pint jars
Directions
Collect prickly pear tunas (fruit) when they are dark reddish purple. I use a tongs and fill a 5-gal bucket half way.
Place fruit in a stockpot, cover with water and boil for ten minutes. Drain and rinse.
Place fruit in a food processor. Puree.
To extract juice, scoop puree into double layered cheesecloth. I create a cheesecloth bundle, and hang it over a bowl in my kitchen sink for several hours.
Discard bundle. Strain juice a second time through fresh cheesecloth to catch any stray seeds and or debris. This yields approximately 2 1/2 cups of condensed prickly pear cactus juice.
Combine 2 1/2 cups cactus juice, lemon juice and pectin in a large heavy-bottomed stockpot. Bring to a hard boil for 3 minutes.
Add the sugar and return to a hard boil until jelly reaches 220°F, 8°F above the boiling point of water (at sea level). I live at 5,000 feet elevation in the desert mountains of West Texas, so I subtract 2 degrees for every 1000 feet. My jelly is ready at 210°F.
Spoon jelly into prepared jars.
Cover jars with water. Can according to Ball website’s instructions for water-bath canning. High altitude canning doubles processing time.
